Isle of Wight Steam Railway Carriage and Wagon updates

Realistically I think the only organisation with the skills and inclination to restore any of these Met coaches would be the IOWSR.

 

I see on Facebook that the big move of unrestored stock to offsite undercover storage has started.

A very good idea to free up space at Havenstreet, and conserve the stock until it’s time for restoration comes. Looks quite an impressive large storage unit.

 

It is something that we had talked about for some years without being allowed to act upon it but then all a sudden the stars aligned and in a flash it is happening

 

It should also help to dry out the stored stock if its under cover, saving time when the time comes to start rebuilding some of these vehicles , are there any dehumidifying measures in place to prevent wood splitting etc as it dries out? such as a constant flow of air?

 

are any of those bogies likily to be re used, on any future bogie coach restoration, I would imagine the southern ones may be suitable, if similar to the Mansell SECR design, Could the LNWR bogies be swapped with another railway after genuine bogies for a set of Southern ones, if any suitable ones are available.

 

The building has quite a lot of natural ventilation so I do not think that they will dry out too quickly.

The LSWR bogies are a close match for SECR bogies so could be a spare set with some modifications. The LNWR bogies are a very close match to LBSCR bogies the main differences being the wheelbase, LNWR 9ft LBSCR 8ft and LNWR under pull brake and LBSCR being over pull. We can make and fit new solebars to reduce the wheelbase to 8ft and alter the brake rigging to over pull.

 

I went to see these (after many years) in July this year for curiosity, and was lucky to see inside two of them with the occupants' permission as they happened to be there that day. It would appear that there is a healthy sprinkling of original features inside them, such as luggage racking, striker plates for matches and some wooden seating. It is clear however, as you would expect, that there is also heavy modification, so I wouldn't like to say how many luggage racks there are in the total line up of the 7 or 8. The lady who showed me her section thought she had a brake area, but it was clear (to us) that it was in fact just two compartments "knocked through". I believe if you took all of the bodies you would stand a good chance of having a good selection of bits to restore a few. They certainly look like a better starting point than the Oldbury coaches, which shows that the IOWSR are certainly capable of taking them on, whether they would have the resource, or whether those in charge there would want to is a completely different matter of course. I thought I'd add that last bit in case anyone was to accuse me of telling the IOWSR what to do!

In my experience of closely observing coach body restorations (NSR, GER and MR), I would say that the Met bodies were at the better end of the "outside" category of rescued bodies in terms of their condition. In fact I find it quite remarkable that they are not much worse given their location. The same lady who showed me her compartments spoke of how the bodies were let by the same person for decades, who looked after them (and the tenants) well, painting them almost every year etc etc. They changed hands a few years ago, which in her opinion was the beginning of the end, with the "new people" being far less sympathetic. She believes the doors were burned, the frequency of repainting has dropped dramatically, and that they are running them down almost deliberately to see them replaced with the more traditional row of beach huts, justification for such will be easier if the current bodies become an eyesore.

Whilst the above can only really be treated as conjecture, it might be a sign that we will see the disposal of this row of bodies within 10 years perhaps?

 

Well you have achieved something that I haven’t, I have been to St Helens diver on many occasions and not once has one been occupied. I know of a few people from the Railway who have been lucky enough to have a look. Their experiences were much as you describe, very much a pity about the doors.

If we are offered any they do fit the Railway strategic vision so I am sure that the Railway would be willing to accept one or more.

 

My ex in-laws rented one for a number of years back in the 80s when they were un clad and still had doors, many of the compartments had original fittings which the occupants were very proud of.
Re the big move, I'm so very pleased for the railway to get all the grounded bodies under cover, always felt sad seeing them exposed to the elements. But i will miss seeing those in train story, or are they being retained at Havenstreet?
Terry

 

Their is still a selection of unrestored vehicles in Train Story but it was felt that it was more important to have enough space available for the restored stock and Locos. Over the winter period the working Locos that are not in use live in Train Story so you need space. A small selection of long term stores PMVs will also be going away for undercover storage, we then might have the space in the leanto to make the case for putting the bogie set away more often !

 

This is the result of an eight year overhaul which has involved all new solebars, new headstocks, lots of new steel in the bogies, new hornguides, new moquette and a host of normal repairs. SECR Brake 3rd 4149

 

The nearest compartment, an erstwhile 2nd. class, is sumptuous.

 

Absolutely stunning and a credit to all involved over many years.

You can visit the IOWSR and travel behind vintage beautifully restored coaches!

Cheers,

Julian

 

Or even inside them

 

Looks stunning - congratulations to the team

Keith

 

+ 1, brilliant job.

 

The 5 coach bogie set looks as impressive as the recently expanded 4-wheel set, and all from a fleet introduced no later than the mid 1920's! Simply stunning and definitely the main reason I visit regularly.

Sent from my HTC U Play using Tapatalk

 

It is perhaps worth pointing out there was a significant delay in getting the 'odd' correct section steel for the new solebars, and then when obtained, there was a long delay in Bartletts assembling them, neither the fault of the IOWSR.

Gary will no doubt provide an update, but the next SECR chassis should take far less time, and they have a 'new' lovely carriage in service prior to the completion of 4149, and IWR No. 10 and No.21 is making good progress, and another project in progress.

Absolutely wonderful! Please do visit the IOWSR and travel in these beautifully restored old carriages!

Cheers,

Julian

 

I'm pulling together lots of images & words telling the story of lots of the work done to bring 4149 back to traffic. Hope to publish the document soon, once published I'll post a link on here to said document.

 

Getting the solebar steel made was the key to making this project possible, without that the three Chathams would not have been restorable other than as static exhibits.

The bulb angle section was not available anywhere in the world (we trawled far and wide). We looked at getting it specially rolled but no company would take on the small quantity required, finally we found a supplier in Germany that was able to hot extrude the material in the correct section. Expensive and drawn out but the final result is worth the wait.